Gearing for a Touring Bike

[Bones]

I am about to get a new touring bike built (Dave Yates Wanderer frame) and wonder what chainsets/gearing people use and have found successful. It will have drop bars and I would prefer STI shifters rather than bar end shifters. I have a bike (for audax) which did have shimano XT 48/36/24 and a 11-27 cassette, using Tiagra STI shifters, but I got a 11-32 cassette fitted for a little alpine adventure and despite my LBS's best efforts the changing has gone to pot in the higher gears when using the middle and larger chainrings, and there is cahin rub too. I see Shimano now do a 10 spd 38/24 double chainset and compatible cassettes with up to 36T and I was wondering about this for a touring bike that may have a tent, etc. Their SLX crankset also looks good value and comes in a double and triple. I am just wondering if a double that gave me gears as low as my triple would give better changing, I doubt that I will miss the higher gears my triple gives me!

I have briefly looked at SRAM drive trains but have no experience of this make, so any comments would be helpful.

Thanks.

[clarion]

For touring, I wouldn't look at anything other than a triple.  If you go anywhere lumpy with kit, then you're likely to need the bottom end.

I find that anything much over 100" is wasted as I would tend to freewheel before getting to the higher speeds.  I also like to have a bottom climbing gear of about 25" or lower.

Personally, I have 50-36-24 and 11-30 on the back.  Actually, I can only use 13-30, which is fine.

[MalRees]

I'd definitely go for a triple just for the bail out gears options, but its worth sitting down with a spreadsheet and working out how much duplication of ratios you end up compared with a double. I'm running 44/34/24 and 13/29 on the tourer and really don't miss the top end gears. Touring should be just that.

[Polar Bear]

My tourer has mtb rations - 22/32/44 and 11-32.   Gets a tourer loaded with camping gear and a large bear up most inclines and has enough legs for the flats. 

[Bones]

Thanks for your comments. I think I will go with what I know and stick with a triple.

[Polar Bear]

When you had the mtb cassette fitted, did you also change the rear mech for an mtb equivalent one?   A tiagra would struggle with something beyond 28 teeth whereas a shimano mtb mech such as deore would be good for 34 teeth on a larger sprocket.   A deore (or almost any shimano mtb rear mech) will work from a road shifter though the same cannot be said for shimano front mechs.

[frankly frankie]

22/32/44 and 11-32 - my setup too, as mentioned upthread.    Or an 11-28 if you're stronger or lighter or not camping.

I find that anything much over 100" is wasted as I would tend to freewheel before getting to the higher speeds.  I also like to have a bottom climbing gear of about 25" or lower.

The OP's suggested "38/24 double chainset and compatible cassettes with up to 36T" would be too low overall, if anything.  A less rangy cassette, say 11-28, would be better with that chainset (gears of 23" to 93").

[clarion]

Possibly, but I find touring (and commuting) that I can do a lot on the middle ring, which keeps the changing to one lever.

[greenmeansgo]

Another vote for MTB gearing if you're carrying camping gear. 22/32/44 11-32 is what I currently have. If I was changing anything, I'd fit lower gears rather than higher.

[Woofage]

Here's another question, but relative to the OP's options: do those of you who run MTB chainsets (ie small-ish rings with 12T top to middle) use MTB or road f/mechs?

Note to OP: MTB f/mechs will not work with road shifters. Different cable pull. You'll need a road front mech which usually means 10T top to middle.

[mrcharly]

I have 26 36 46 front, with a 105 mech and friction barend shifter. Works very well.

[Woofage]

I have 26 36 46 front, with a 105 mech

This^ plus a 12-32 cassette, MTB rear mech and road STI shifters will work prefectly and give you 22 to 103 gear-inches .

[MrToad]

By the way, I've just been reading this article on the CTC site, which is relevant to this thread.  It may be a bit old (2003) but it talks about mixing MTB and road components, so it may be of interest to some of you.

[vorsprung]

I have a 1x9 ( one chainring + wide range MTB cassette ) with 39 x 11-34

This gives 94" to 30", which might not be low enough.

[Biggsy]

Hey dem Bones, decide what gears you want, THEN find components that provide them (or near them) - not the other way round.  In other words, don't worry about makes and models to begin with.

So what gear ratios do you want?  Then people can make suggestions of how to achieve it.  Bear in mind that steps between gears will be smaller if you sacrifice some range off the top in order to have low enough gears for climbing (which is most important).

[greenmeansgo]

I use Shimergo (MTB drivetrain and rear mech, with Ergo levers and road front mech)

[Andrij]

Here's what I did my my tourer:

- Front mech: Tiagra triple
- Rear mech: Deore XT
- Chainset: Deore 26/36/48, 170
- BB: Deore UN54
- Levers: Tiagra triple 9sp
- Brakes: Avid BB7
- Hub, F/R: SON deluxe / Deore XT
- Cassette: Deore LX (11-34)

[frankly frankie]

I reckon a low gear of 23" is about equivalent to walking (pushing the bike) pace.
Of course, on a loaded tourer, there are advantages to staying on the bike even if travelling slower than that ...

[Biggsy]

I reckon a low gear of 23" is about equivalent to walking (pushing the bike) pace.

About 4 mph at 60 rpm.  Even with a 19" gear and no luggage, I'd rather cycle up a steep hill than get off and push.

[Kim]

Agreed.  Getting off and pushing, while sometimes necessary, is something you want to be able to avoid if you can.  Once you're at the sort of load/gradient where those sort of gears are worth having, it can be incredibly difficult to get going again safely if you stop, especially if the surface is in any way slippery.  So you need to gear down to the point where you don't have to stop and just keep twiddling.

I have a 24-36-50 road chainset (with 155mm cranks) and a 11-34 cassette on a 26" wheel on my touring recumbent, where getting off and pushing *really* isn't an option.  105 mech at the front, XT on the back.  It'll manage the now legendary Smalldean Lane unloaded, or double chevron hills with a touring load if you lie back and think of Wowbagger, but can be ridden as a 1x9 the vast majority of the time (the big ring is there for fast descents and to give intermediate ratios on the flat).  If it were an upright tourer and therefore less prone to going really fast in the right conditions, I'd  dispense with the higher ratios and freewheel above 30mph.  Indeed, you'd probably have to to avoid slack chain issues in some gears.

[MrToad]

When you had the mtb cassette fitted, did you also change the rear mech for an mtb equivalent one?   A tiagra would struggle with something beyond 28 teeth whereas a shimano mtb mech such as deore would be good for 34 teeth on a larger sprocket.   A deore (or almost any shimano mtb rear mech) will work from a road shifter though the same cannot be said for shimano front mechs.

Just out of interest - would you expect a deore rear mech to work (in indexed mode) with an ultegra bar end shifter?  The shifter is described as 8/9 speed indexed.

[mrcharly]

I'd expect it to work with any 8/9spd bar end shifter apart from dura ace

[mark]

My touring gears consist of : 22-34-46 chainrings, 12-32 8 speed cassette, MTB derailleurs (very old XTR, they were the previous year's model when I bought them), and downtube-mounted friction shifters (yes, they can still be found) with no indexing option. The ultra-low gearing is very nice when hauling camping gear in steep terrain, especially as the day goes on and one gets tired.. Friction shifting eliminates the shifting problems that can arise when cables get kinked, housings crack or get dirt in them, or when various drivetrain parts start to wear. Putting the shifters on the downtube keeps them out of the way when loading the bike onto airplanes, trains and ferries, and eliminates the extra cables that can get in the way of a handlebar bag. The 8 speed cassette gives me all the gears I need, and I think it's a little more durable than a 9, 10 or 11 speed cassette.

[MrToad]

How do you find friction shifting on an 8sp cassette? 

[Viking]

I had, until today, the following:

Stronglight Impact triple 48/38/24
9 speed cassette 11-32
XT 9 speed rear mech
Ultegra 9 speed triple front mech
Ultegra 9 speed triple STI

Everything works a treat.

However, I am in the process of changing to 10 speed.  I know, I must be mad on a tourer, but I also use this bike for audax and day rides as well.  So this is what I am changing to:

Same chainset
Sram 10 speed cassette 11-32
Same rear mech
Ultegra 10 speed 6703 front mech
Ultegra STI 6703 10 speed

I hope it all works.  The bike is in dry dock as we speak whilst I change the stuff over.  Hope to have it working tonight.